


The Back Story of Corina Raine

by WattStalf



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, old short story, super hero universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 15:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5010469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the fictional city of Lexintopolis, Kenneth Raine fights crime while his twin sister, Corina, is fascinated by it. When a masked man named Avery Darcy enters the scene, the twins' lives are drastically changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Back Story of Corina Raine

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this short story for an English class back in April. It's part of my larger super hero universe, and takes place before my Cavalry story. I mention Corina and Kenneth in that. Some things in this story might not end of being canon- I had to write things differently than I wanted for the sake of the class.  
> The story is told half in present, and half in flash backs.

She wears red lipstick specifically because it clashes with her pink clothing. That's the whole point, and she hates when she has to explain it because it should be obvious. She has to explain a lot to her twin lately and this bores the hell out of her, because she would rather be running a mental inventory of her lipstick collection or daydreaming about car chases and stickups that she has yet to experience.

She has always been the older twin, ever since the day when he was born a whopping nine minutes after her, but he has been more of an older twin ever since their mother died and their dear father dumped them with an aunt who pitied them too much to turn them away, but not enough to care about anything else that they did.

So Kenneth decided to take care of her and Corina decided to learn magic tricks. He would follow her around, trying to keep her out of trouble and bossing her around, and she would threaten to make him disappear, as any child with a magic kit would.

~X~

He is a cop now, because he has not gotten over his desire to take care of someone that he developed when he and his sister were left alone. He is a cop because she never let him look after her when she was sick, claiming that his bedside manner was “terrible. Just the worst,” and that ruled out a career in nursing. He is a cop because he is not religious enough for the priesthood, he lacks the patience for teaching, and he has never possessed culinary skills.

But policing is something that he can do. He has a home gym and is all the stronger because of it, and he responds to calls with a speed no one has seen at the station before. He puts his criminals away with such ease that it seems as though they volunteered themselves without a struggle.

Corina, who never stopped learning magic tricks, is awed by it all. She wonders how someone

 

can cross the line, can go from a law-abiding citizen to a wanted criminal in a split second. Her fascination with any and every criminal makes Kenneth wonder, but he does not ask. He instead gets her a job at the station as a secretary so that she can keep a safe eye on criminals and he can keep an eye on her.

~X~

When they were children, their aunt would usually give them money and send them off for the day to keep them out of her way. Kenneth often suspected that five years old was too young to roam the nearby shopping center with ten dollars in his pocket, but he said nothing and instead learned how currency worked so that he could use the money. He always bought ice cream for himself and his sister, and they would save the change, splitting it evenly. It was with this money that Corina would buy her first magic kit; Kenneth would continue saving until well into middle school.

One day, there was a new young man at the ice cream counter, and because he was new, he did not know that the twins were regulars and looked around for their parents before realizing that they were there alone. He then flashed them a smile, the left half of his mouth quirked up slightly higher than the right and his right eyebrow lifted. Kenneth thought that he looked ridiculous, but Corina giggled and grinned at the cashier, whose name tag read “Avery D.”.

“What can I get for you two?” he asked in a slow, smooth voice.

“A strawberry cone and a vanilla cone,” replied Kenneth.

“I'm the one with the strawberry,” Corina piped up.

“Is that right?” the cashier asked, looking down at her. “Well, do you like sprinkles?” When she nodded, he said, “Then I'll throw in sprinkles for the lovely lady, free of charge! Of course, your brother can have some too, if he'd like.”

“No, thank you,” said Kenneth quickly. He handed the older boy his money and took back the change, trying to ignore the way Corina fidgeted and played with her hair. When they were handed their ice cream and Avery D. winked at his little sister, Kenneth wasted no time in tugging at her hand and saying that they should head back home. There was something about this cashier that he didn't like, and he felt like it had to do with more than the fact that Corina had developed a very obvious crush on him.

~X~

“If you don't clean up your appearance, I can't guarantee that you can keep your job,” says Kenneth one day. “I have pull, but I don't have that much pull.”

“I don't see what's wrong with it,” replies Corina, applying a second coat of her favorite lipstick.

“That,” he says, waving a hand at her. “That is what's wrong. Your makeup is way too loud for a professional environment. Not to mention, you exclusively wear pink blouses. Shouldn't you at least wear pink lipstick?”

“First of all, you know why I wear red with pink, Kenny. Second of all, what fun is there in makeup that _isn't_ loud?”

Kenneth sighs and tries to maintain his patience. If only she would find a husband to take care of her for him, he would not have to deal with this every day! “Look, I know you have your preferences, but you can wear that when you're not at the station. Also, if you could stop curling your hair so big every day, that would be great too. It looks fine straight.”

Corina sticks her tongue out at him, then bursts into laughter at her own childish gesture. She hates having straight hair, and she hates neutral makeup even more, but she loves her job because she sometimes get to see criminals as they are being brought in and this excites her. So she decides that she will play whatever part she has to play to keep said job, even if it means she has to look boring.

~X~

Corina never dated in high school. She never dated in middle school either, and she never went to college, which closed that door of opportunity straight away. She did not date at all before her time working at the station, but by that point, it was by choice. Men found her attractive, but she was not interested in anyone who did not come with a mugshot and at least a five year sentence.

But in school, she did not date because Kenneth rarely let her out of his sight. Just as when they were children, he was always somewhere near by, keeping a close eye on her, and the boys her age did not dare ask her for a date, for fear that Kenneth would be there with them. Not one of them got over this fear, and so not one of them ever took her out for dinner and a movie, but that didn't mean that Corina was inexperienced in the romance department.

She was lucky enough to have a different schedule than him, and in her sophomore year, she had a brief fling with a senior. The very first day that she decided to skip class, she caught him behind the school with a can of neon green spray paint. He asked her what she wanted from him to keep her mouth shut. She kissed him. After that, she made it a habit of skipping whenever she could to aid him in his vandalism and make out with him. She often wondered if she loved him, but he graduated before she could decide if she did or not.

When Kenneth found out how often she had missed classes that year and how close she was to failing out, he reprimanded her until his throat was sore and she was half-asleep, then did everything he could to ensure she passed. She only barely graduated, and while he studied law enforcement at a local university, she stayed home practicing magic tricks and making a scrapbook with the newspaper's crime bulletins.

~X~

Most days, sitting at her desk is boring, but it pays off when someone who has committed a real, serious crime gets brought in while she is there. The armed robbers and murderers are rare, but they are worth every boring second she spends filing and staring at the clock.

She is staring at the clock when she first hears the buzz of excitement in the area. She cannot tell what anyone is saying, other than a few snatches of words. She hears “casualties” and “mask” for sure, and she knows just from that that something big is coming. She begins mentally thanking various deities that she has work today and she waits.

When at last the man they were talking about is brought through, she is surprised by two things. The first is that the mask in question is not a ski mask like she originally expected; rather, it is a simple, black eye mask. The second is that this man, who is tall and blonde, with blue eyes so sharp that even the mask does not hide them well, is like a combination of the cover of a men's fashion magazine and every man she has ever felt attracted to in her life. She is impressed by his impeccable style of dress as she takes in the powder blue suit jacket he wears, and the long tie, sharp pants, and shiny shoes, all in black.

She knows without a doubt that if she does not marry this man, she will not marry at all.

As he is being drug past her, one of the cops reaches up and snatches off his mask. He says that it is to make the mugshot process go faster, but he laughs loudly at the end up his sentence and the handsome man scowls. Corina grips her desk, clinching her fists tightly to keep herself from slugging the cop for being so disrespectful.

The mystery criminal gets closer and closer, until he is passing right in front of her desk, and when he notices her, he stops scowling. He makes direct eye contact with her, winks, and smiles, with the left half of his mouth quirked up slightly higher than the other and his right eyebrow lifted. She brings one of her fists up to her cheek, which is now burning hot, and smiles at him, lowering her eyelids.

And then he has been lead past her and he is out of sight. She makes a mental note to find his file the next time she is in and make a photocopy of his mugshot for her scrapbook.

~X~

There was something about this case that Kenneth didn't like, and it wasn't just the usual dislike he associated with any criminal and any crime. Something about this one was special, and he couldn't come up with an answer as to why. Of course, there was the fact that the man wore a mask and killed three people, allegedly without them doing anything to provoke it, before making off with more precious jewelry than Kenneth could ever hope to afford in his life, but he did not think these things were the only things that stood out to him.

When he had arrived on the scene, the perpetrator had put up a good fight, almost managing to evade arrest completely, but he had not bothered to hide his identity, despite the mask. From the moment Kenneth had asked him to put his hands in the air, the man had announced that his name was Avery Darcy, and had reminded them a few times after. He seemed too proud of his work to let anything go without proper credit.

As Kenneth drove him back to the station for identification (which was going to be a lot easier than normal, considering his willingness to give away his name), he could not shake the feeling that there was something about this man he hated more than he knew.

~X~

Corina collects all of their mugshots, because Avery Darcy may be the first of his kind, but he is not the last. With every new, dramatic crime committed by some grandiose personality with a back story, the more breathless she becomes thinking about going into work. There is Trenton Mallory, a former businessman framed for embezzlement, who turned to crime after snapping and killing the man who framed him, and there is Andromeda Justice, a failed actress who had a habit of legally changing her name to whatever stage name she fancied and who never got the attention she desired. Evan Chandler also claims he didn't get enough attention, believing his intelligence was never properly appreciated, and Renee Dewitt escaped an unhappy marriage through murder while adopting the persona of a 1950s housewife.

There are more than that, but the majority of crimes of that degree are merely copycats of Darcy, who never escape like he does or like the others do, and who claim that they have no intention of returning to crime after they have finished out their sentences. Corina doesn't understand how someone can be that close and turn back. She doesn't understand how anyone in the world could look at Darcy and not want to be just like him.

Kenneth becomes more and more concerned about her fascination, and suggests she pursue new hobbies. It is just like the magic tricks, and she will not listen to him now anymore than she would in the past. She is in love, and when he leaves one night on a sudden call about Darcy's whereabouts, she is grateful for the alone time to work on her scrapbook.

She wonders what Darcy's back story is.

~X~

“Why are we meeting up like this?” asked Renee. “Is it so we can all start working together? Cos I really think if we worked together-”

“We're not here to work together,” said Trenton, cutting her off. “We're here to discuss a common pain in our asses.”

“Officer Raine,” guessed Andromeda.

“Exactly,” he replied. “I think it's time one of us show him what he's dealing with. Just royally fuck with him.”

“So then why don't we work together?” asked Renee.

“Because I was thinking we make it a contest. Whoever can rob his house and kidnap that hot secretary sister of his without getting caught wins.”

“That's so easy I could do it in my sleep,” said Evan.

“I thought this was supposed to be a challenge,” said Andromeda.

“Too easy!” said Renee.

But then there was a long pause, as they all began considering exactly what it would take to pull off something like that. Officer Raine was good; he had, so far, been the only officer even capable of nabbing them. The criminals started to realize that this might not be as easy as they thought, and Trenton himself regretted suggesting it.

Darcy, who had been watching silently, smirking his usual smirk, spoke up. “Aw, what the hell? If no one else is going to do it, I suppose I could always give it a whirl!”

~X~

She is still working on her scrapbook when she hears something in her brother's room. She never heard him come in, and she wonders just how caught up she was in admiring Darcy's features to not notice this. She goes back to her work, but when she hears something hit the floor, she calls out, “Kenny? You okay in there?”

There is no response, so she gets up and walks out of her room. It is at this time the Kenneth's door opens down the hall, and she sees someone who is very much Not Kenneth exit the room. Before she can study the figure, much taller than her brother, she runs back into her room and for the window. She curses her door's broken lock, and her window's perfectly functioning lock as she fumbles with it and the strange man enters her room. Her curiosity overtaking her, she turns to see who it is and her hands fall from the window.

“It's you!” she says, a grin spreading across her face. So she didn't dream their connection, and he had come to find her at last!  
“That it is,” replies Avery Darcy. He has a bag with him, overflowing with what she assumes are the valuables her brother owns. “And who might you be?”

“I'm Corina Raine,” she says, approaching him and picking up her scrapbook.

Darcy is confused as to why she is not afraid of him in the slightest, as any girl in her right mind should be, but he does not let this show. “Why, you wouldn't be related to Officer Raine, now, would you?” When she nods, he says, “I wouldn't think someone as gorgeous as you could possibly be related to him! I thought perhaps you were his lover, but then I would have to scold you for going so far beneath your league!” Of course, he already knows that they are siblings.

She giggles and fidgets and runs a hand through her hair. “I'm his twin sister. I'm also a secretary at the station, and I saw you the first day you got brought in. I'm a huge fan of your work.” With that, she hands him the scrapbook and he begins flipping through it.

He remembers the day he winked at her and remembers that he had done it simply because he was a showman, and flirting with a secretary while being arrested added an extra bit of flair to the show he had been putting on, but now, seeing this scrapbook, his feelings changed. Of course, it made sense that she wasn't afraid of him, as she clearly was not in her right mind, but there is more to it than that. She adores him almost as much as he adores himself, and so he cannot help but adore her in return. He does not know what falling in love feels like, but he is willing to say that he will never come much closer than this.

~X~

“Glorifying criminals the way you do just makes that many more appear,” said Kenneth.

“I'm more about disappearances,” replied Corina, “but I wouldn't mind seeing more.”

“Sometimes I'm afraid that you're going to turn out like them.”

“Me too, except I'm not really afraid.”

~X~

His challenge is to kidnap her, but after sitting and talking with her, Darcy decides that he is going to do them all one better. He is going to convert her. Corina has chatted on and on about her deep admiration for him and his “colleagues” and she has spoken to him of plans and ideas that he would not expect from a woman with so little experience. Though he must admit, some of them are a bit nonsensical-- such as her scheme to break into a zoo at night and give each animal a mask of another animal, or a series of break ins that would only involve switching the stock of several jewelry stores and no actual robbery-- he believes that with the right kind of guidance, she could become quite the criminal mastermind. Not to mention, she is a magician, and that is the perfect gimmick for a villainous persona.

“My dear Corina,” he says, “it would be my greatest honor if you would join me, as my student, as my accomplice, and as my...” He trails off, placing two fingers under chin, pulling her face up to meet his in a kiss. It is an overdone move, stolen from any old romance, but it has never failed him in the past, and when he pulls away, he sees it has not failed him here either.

She is at first wide-eyed and slack-jawed, but a large, almost ferocious grin soon replaces that expression. She throws back her head and cackles. She does not answer him in words, but she packs a few belongings with such speed that he does not need any verbal confirmation that she is coming with him. They run to his car as if they're leaving a crime scene, hand in hand.

Corina doesn't know how she got to be so lucky, but she does know that she is finally about to become the person she was meant to be. She hopes that Kenneth will someday understand, and she hopes that they will have a lot of fun as opposing forces. It feels as if a game is beginning, and she is honored to be one of the key players.

“First things first,” she says, “we need to pick out a costume for me. I'd like for it to be mostly pink. Oh, and if it's all right, I need a new curling iron and some red lipstick.”


End file.
